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Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland had a theory about why Doug Fister looked completely different after a shaky start.

Fister walked three and plunked a hitter in the first seven batters he faced, but settled down to throw seven shutout innings as Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 3-0 Monday in a matchup of teams with the AL’s best records.

“This is what I think, and I’m probably crazy,” the veteran manager said. “People have talked about this park for 100 years and I think at the beginning of the game he was being a little bit careful, and I thought he got more aggressive as the game went on — and I thought it helped him.

“Early on, I think he was being careful like 1,000 pitchers have done before him. It’s hard to convince him that you have to be aggressive in this ballpark because if you don’t you’ll get burnt. I don’t have idea if that’s accurate, but that’s what it seemed like to me,” he said.

Fister rebounded from a miserable start in his previous outing, holding Boston to four hits while walking four and striking out four. In his last start, he gave up 13 hits and seven runs in a loss to Oakland.

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The Tigers won despite missing Miguel Cabrera for the third straight game. He has been sidelined by a strained abdomen, though GM Dave Dombrowski said the Triple Crown winner has been more hampered by a groin problem.

“I feel better,” Cabrera said as he stopped briefly while walking through the clubhouse.

ORIOLES 7, INDIANS 2: Justin Masterson’s health is in serious doubt. The Indians’ playoff chances are just as iffy. Cleveland’s ace was pulled from his start in the second inning with soreness in his left side and Cleveland’s hitters stayed in a collective slump in a key AL wild-card contest. Masterson will undergo an MRI and other tests Tuesday.

YANKEES 9, WHITE SOX 1: Derek Jeter ended a slump with two hits and two RBIs and Alex Rodriguez reached base twice in an eight-run fourth inning for New York.

DODGERS 10, ROCKIES 8: Clayton Kershaw surrendered a career-high 11 hits in five shaky innings but got the win and Yasiel Puig scored the go-ahead run before leaving with a strained right knee.

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